EA Sports FC 24 is a brand new game from EA Sports, splitting away from the FIFA brand to begin a new era in football gaming.
With official information set to be revealed in July, it's purely leaks that we have to work with at the moment, meaning that all information in this article is speculation and nothing is 100% confirmed.
That being said, FIFA leakers have a good track record and their latest spill appears to showcase the inclusion of women's football in Ultimate Team.
Making the women's game more visible in gaming was a huge part of EA and FIFA's late legacy and that same ethos will look to be carried into EA Sports FC, but could this addition do more harm than good?
Women's Football Coming to FUT
When EA Sports FC was announced a year ago, a number of women's teams were featured in the initial advertising, and this has been the same in recent weeks upon the reveal of the full branding.
It has become clear, from the work showcased in FIFA 23 and now heading into EAFC, that EA is doing all it can to champion the women's game, and that's brilliant to see.
More eyes on the women's game will help it naturally grow and gaming can have a huge influence on the real-life popularity of certain things.
Not only that, the women's game is growing exponentially and has taken huge strides forward in recent years, asserting itself as the fastest-growing sport in the world.
However, the recent leaks suggesting that women's players could be added to Ultimate Team may end up doing more harm than good to a mode that is teetering on the edge.
Exposing the Greats
We'll start with the positives, as there are plenty that come with this news. We must remember that football is far from a male-dominated sport and that should be reflected across the landscape of the game.
Just as we all found new cult heroes and new favourite clubs to keep an eye on through our gaming, the women's game absolutely deserves the same exposure.
Highlighting the stars of the sport is important in any medium and exposing new names and faces to a broader audience will have a hugely positive impact on the women's game.
It is absolutely vital that EA lead the charge in changing the attitude surrounding the women's game. Certain members of the football community continue to play down its legitimacy and the only way to prevent the spread of such toxicity is to cut it at the source.
Implementing women's football meaningfully into EA Sports FC 24 will bring a huge amount of positives, but we fear this inclusion may be a tad short-sighted.
The Final Straw
Ultimate Team has been in a strange place for many years, with the market almost dead from the start of the game and no base cards retaining any value.
Long gone are the days in which having 2 or 3 in-form players in your team was seen as a novelty, with the vast swath of promo cards quickly putting to bed the idea of building a premium team.
Load up Ultimate Team today and pretty much everyone will have a 90-rated squad, boasting cards with all different designs and colour schemes.
The absolute last thing Ultimate Team needed ahead of the EA Sports FC re-brand was for thousands of news cards to be added to the market, and packs.
With the leaks suggesting that women's football will not be implemented into a separate mode, we foresee a situation in which the already bloated Ultimate Team market crashes and burns.
Breaking The Immersion
Another thing majorly affected by this inclusion will be the overall immersion of the game.
We would much rather see a dedicated mode for Women's Ultimate Team, giving us the chance to manage two separate squads and enjoy using completely different players.
However, as seen in Pro Clubs this year, having male and female players playing on the pitch at the same time feels more like a Soccer Aid charity match than a meaningful competition.
Of course, people could decide to simply not use these cards, but then what's the point of their inclusion? If bringing women's football into Ultimate Team is a box tick, then it shouldn't be done.
The game deserves far more respect than that and EA may need to go to the drawing board if this implementation fails.
We have, naturally, been wrong in the past. We sincerely hope that if these rumours prove to be true, EA doesn't just make a slapdash attempt to please the masses whilst setting aside what makes their game so unique.
Women's and Men's football deserve the same respect and exposure in our gaming, but we're just not sure that Ultimate Team can handle this challenging balance.